306 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



on the back. The loin cuts out shapely and the flesh is pink 

 and fine grained. The ham has the proper depth of fat and 

 flesh. The belly is the right thickness and properly streaked 

 with lean. It will make high-grade bacon. It is so with all 

 the other cuts. This is a class of hog that makes prime cuts, 

 and so it is a prime hog on the hoof. 



"What is the case with the other hog? It comes out of 

 the cooler as soft and flabby as when it went in. It might be 

 left in for weeks and still it would not harden. To break such 

 a carcass up into saleable cuts is next to impossible. It can 

 only be haggled apart. There is a tough rind over the loin and 

 a sheet of gristly fat. After the butcher manages to get the 

 loin out, there is no layer of good white fat on it and the flesh 

 is yellowish and stringy. The belly makes tough, inferior bacon. 

 These cuts cannot be properly cured, as they will shrink away. 

 Even the ham, when smoked, presents a dried-up, unattractive 

 appearance on the market. The result is that the cuts must 

 either be sold at a low price or go to the sausage room or the 

 lard tank. It is not difficult to understand why this hog grades 

 common to inferior/' 



3. Quality. A carcass is said to have quality when the 

 outlines are even and smooth, the head and shanks fine, the 

 flesh firm, bright, and smooth grained, the fat white and evenly 

 distributed over the carcass, and the skin smooth, thin, mel- 

 low, and free from wrinkles, blotches, or bruises. Coarse or 

 extremely large shoulders, neck, and jowls show lack of quality 

 and are indications of stagginess, and the carcasses of seedy 

 sows grade low because of their coarse quality. Barrows and 

 smooth, clear sows yield carcasses of the best quality. 



4. Weight. While it is true that packers find uses for 

 carcasses of all weights ranging from 20 to 400 pounds, the 

 most valuable carcasses are those weighing 160 to 200 pounds, 

 provided the carcass is at the same time one of good shape, 

 finish, and quality. Such carcasses come from hogs with a 

 live weight of 200 to 260 pounds. Carcasses weighing 160 to 

 200 pounds yield loins of the proper size and best quality. The 

 general statement may also be made that all carcasses should 

 weigh heavy for their size, thus insuring a high degree of finish 

 or fatness. 



Bacon Carcasses. 



The packing house classes the heavier and fatter carcasses 

 as lard hog carcasses, while the lighter, thinner ones are cut up 



